Method And package For Shipping And Curing Manufactured Masonry Panels

ABSTRACT

A method and package for shipping and curing manufactured masonry panels utilizes a package including sets of spaced slotted rails securing groups of masonry panels there between. In use, multiple sets of masonry panels are retained between first and second sets of slotted rails, with pairs of the masonry panels being retained back-to-back, with air flow channels being established between both main body portions and manufactured facial portions of the masonry panels, allowing for further curing of the masonry panels. The masonry panels can be stacked between sets of slotted rails until the desired package size is obtained. Optionally, one or more braces may be attached to the package.

BACKGROUND

Manufactured stone and brick products have gained popularity in thehousing industry because of their light weight, variety of styleoptions, ease of installation and relatively inexpensive cost. Ingeneral, such products are produced using specialized dyed concrete. Thecolor of the products may be varied to provide a variety of styleoptions to consumers. During manufacturing, partially cured products areremoved from molds and stacked into ovens for further curing. Morespecifically, de-molded products are loaded onto wooden pallets, thewooden pallets are loaded onto skids, and the skids are loaded into theovens. After further curing, the products are removed from the ovens andpallets, and packaged in boxes for shipping. The time and labornecessary to load the products onto drying racks, unload the productsand package the products for shipping is costly. Additionally, if thestones are packaged for shipping before being fully cured, the shippingboxes prevent air from circulating around the products and heatgenerated from further curing may cause condensation to appear on thesurface of the products, thereby affecting the color of the stone orbrick and creating unsightly staining.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to methods and packages for curing andshipping manufactured masonry panels. The package may include groups ofmanufactured masonry panels retained between sets of spaced slottedrails. In use, the multiple sets of masonry panels are retained betweenfirst and second sets of slotted rails with pairs of the masonry panelsbeing retained back-to-back and air flow channels being establishedbetween both main body portions and manufactured facial portions of themasonry panels, allowing for further curing of the masonry panels. Themasonry panels can be stacked between sets of slotted rails until thedesired package size is obtained.

In one embodiment of the invention, each masonry panel includes a mainbody panel having first and second rows of manufactured stone or brickextending therefrom and a securing bracket extending from a top portionof the main body panel. In use, a set of the masonry panels is insertedinto upper slots formed in the top wall of each of a set of spacedslotted rails such that a bottom portion of each masonry panel isretained by the first set of slotted rails. A second set of spacedslotted rails is lowered over the masonry panels and the securingbrackets extending from the masonry panels are inserted into lower slotsformed in the bottom wall of each of the second set of spaced slottedrails such that the securing brackets are retained by the second set ofslotted rails. In this manner, groups of masonry panels can be stackedbetween sets of slotted rails until the desired height and width of thepackage is obtained. Optionally, one or more braces may be secured tothe package for added stability during transport.

The first and second sets of slotted rails securely retain masonrypanels there between such that air flow channels are defined between themain body portions and the manufactured stone or brick of the masonrypanels. With this configuration, partially cured manufactured stone orbrick can be packaged before being fully cured, and may be further curedwithin the package without detrimental effects to the appearance of themanufactured stone or brick. Further, oven drying of the package is notnecessary and, therefore, no curing oven need be utilized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the invention and the many embodimentsthereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understoodby reference to the following detailed description when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a curing and shipping package employedin connection with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the outing and shippingpackage of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be described with occasional reference tothe specific embodiments of the invention. This invention may, however,be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited tothe embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are providedso that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in thedescription of the invention herein is for describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused in the description of the invention and the appended claims, thesingular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities ofingredients, properties such as molecular weight, reaction conditions,and so forth as used in the specification and claims are to beunderstood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.”Accordingly, unless otherwise indicated, the numerical properties setforth in the specification and claims are approximations that may varydepending on the desired properties sought to be obtained in embodimentsof the present invention. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges andparameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention areapproximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examplesare reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical values, however,inherently contain certain errors necessarily resulting from error foundin their respective measurements.

With initial reference to FIG. 1, a pallet 10 carries a curing andshipping package 12 of stacked manufactured brick or masonry panels 14in accordance with the present invention. More specifically, a pluralityof masonry panels 14 are packaged within and supported by spaced slottedrails 16 in a manner that allows for secure shipping and curing ofmasonry panels 14. As depicted, groups of masonry panels 20-23 may bepackaged between multiple sets of spaced slotted rails indicated at26-30. In one embodiment shown, the package 12 is constituted by fivesets of slotted rails and four groups of panels. However, it should beunderstood that package 12 is not limited to this configuration, but caninclude any number of desired rails and panels. In the example shown, afirst group of masonry panels 20 is retained between first and secondsets of slotted rails 26 and 27; a second group of masonry panels 21 isretained between second and third sets of slotted rails 27 and 28; athird group of masonry panels 22 is retained between third and fourthsets of slotted rails 28 and 29; and a fourth group of masonry panels 23is retained between fourth and fifth sets of slotted rails 29 and 30.

Details of masonry panels 14 wilt be discussed in more detail withreference to FIG. 2. At this point, it should be understood that eachmasonry panel 14 is generally very similar, such that details will onlybe discussed with reference to masonry panel 14A. Masonry panel 14Aincludes a main body panel 40 having a front face portion 42 and a backface portion 43. Main body panel 40 includes a slanted or tapered bottomportion 46 and a top portion 47 from which a securing bracket 50extends. Securing bracket 50 is formed from metal and includes an offsetfastener receiving portion 52 adapted to receive fasteners (not shown)in a recessed manner to secure masonry panel 14A to a wall (not shown).First and second manufactured, such as stone or brick, facial portions56 and 57 extend in respective rows and are attached to front faceportion 42 in a vertically spaced and laterally offset or other suitablemanner such that a first mortar receiving portion 60 is defined therebetween. In a manner known in the art, the manufactured facial portions56 and 57 are made from a colored concrete composition, but may be madefrom other suitable materials. More specifically, masonry panels 14 arecreated in a mold (not shown) and partially cured for a suitable period,such as approximately 18-48 hours, before being de-molded. Oncede-molded, masonry panels 14 can be packaged in accordance with themethod of the present invention, as will be discussed in more detailbelow.

As best seen in FIG. 1, each slotted rail 16, which can be comprised ofwood, plastic or any other suitable material, includes top, bottom andopposing side walls 62-65. Top wall 62 includes a plurality of laterallyextending upper slots 66 formed therein. Similarly, bottom wall 63includes a plurality of laterally spaced lower slots 68 formed therein.Upper slots and lower slots 66 and 68 may have any suitable shape. Forexample, in the embodiment shown, upper slots 66 comprise rectangularslots and lower slot 68 comprises a rectangular slot having first andsecond notched portions 70 and 71 at the open end of each slot 68. SeeFIG. 2. At this point, it should be understood that each slotted rail 16in rail sets 27-30 are generally the same such that details for eachrail need not be separately described. With respect to the bottomslotted rail set 26, this rail set may be formed in the same manner asthe other rails sets 27-30 or may include only upper slots 66 formedtherein as depicted in FIG. 1. Likewise, it should be understood thatthe top set of rails 30 of package 12 need not be formed with upperslots 66, as depicted in FIG. 1 and may only include lower slots 68.

Reference will now be made to sets of slotted rails 16A and 16B in FIG.2 in order to describe a method for packaging masonry panels 14. Itshould be understood that slotted rails 16A and 16B represent rails fromadjacent sets of rails, such as 29 and 30 of FIG. 1. As demonstrated byslotted rail 16A, each upper slot 66′ is adapted to retain a set ofback-to-back, paired masonry panels such as 14B and 14C. Morespecifically, upper slots 66′ are adapted to receive respective bottomportions 46 of masonry panels 14B and 14C, with the angling or taperingof bottom portions 46 aiding in positioning of panels 14B and 14C inupper slots 66′. The depth of each upper slot 66′ is such that a bottomportion 76 of the first facial portion 56 rests upon top wall 62′ ofslotted rail 16A when masonry panels 14B and 14C are fully receivedtherein. In other words, as shown in FIG. 2, packaging masonry panelsincludes the steps of inserting respective bottom portions 46 of a firstset of masonry panels 14C into the plurality of upper slots 66′ of thefirst set of spaced slotted rails 16A such that bottom portions 76 ofrespective first facial portions 56 abut the top walls 62′ of theslotted rails 16A. In this position, respective securing brackets 50 ofmasonry panels 14B and 14C are also arranged back-to-back and in contactwith one another. In this configuration, offset fastener receivingportions 52 abut and aid in creating an air circulation gap 78 betweenthe respective main body panels 40 of masonry panels 14B, 14C. Theremainder of upper slots 66′ in slotted rail 16A may be likewise loadedwith masonry panels 14 until each of upper slots 66′ supports twoback-to-back masonry panels 14. At this point, it should be noted thatthe spacing of upper slots 66′ are such that masonry panels 14C and 14Dsupported by adjacent upper slots 66′ do not touch, and an additionalair circulation gap 80 is maintained between manufactured facialportions 56 and 57 of opposing masonry panels 14C and 14D.

Once the desired number of paired masonry panels 14 are loaded intoslotted rail 16A, slotted rail 16B is then lowered over respectivesecuring brackets 50 such that the securing brackets 50 of each set ofmasonry panels, such as 14B, 14C, are received into a respective lowerslot 68′ of slotted rail 16B. More specifically, the method of packagingmasonry panels further comprises the steps of inserting respectivesecuring brackets 50 of the first set of masonry panels 14B, 14C, intothe plurality of lower slots 68′ of a second set of spaced slotted rails(represented by 16B), such that top wall portions (not separatelylabeled) of respective facial portions 57 abut respective bottom walls63′ of the second set of spaced slotted rails. As clearly illustrated,lower slots 68′ are multiple times more narrow as compared to upperslots 66′ in order to securely retain masonry panels 14 within slottedrails 16. In use, first and second notched portions 70 and 71 aid in thealigning and loading of masonry panels 14 into slotted rails 16. Morespecifically, notched portions 70 and 71 provide a wide opening throughwhich securing brackets 50 may be received to help guide securingbrackets 50 into lower slots 68′. The process of loading masonry panels14 between slotted rails 16 is continued until the desired number oflevels of masonry panels 14 have been established for package 12.Optionally, one or more braces 84, straps or bands, may be attached topackage 12 in order to provide additional stability during transport.

Advantageously, air circulation gaps 78 and 80 between masonry panels 14provide sufficient circulation such that partially cured masonry panels14 can be loaded into package 12 of the present invention for additionalcuring of the panels. Further, the manner in which masonry panels 14 arepackaged prevents condensate staining of the manufactured panels 14 asthe panels continue to cure. As a result, defective product returns areminimized and customer satisfaction increased. It should also beappreciated that manufacturing and labor costs are reduced by providinga package 12 that also constitutes a shipping container and that allowsfor further curing of masonry panels 14 without the need for a dryer.

Although described with reference to various embodiments of theinvention, it should be readily understood that various changes and/ormodifications can be made to the invention without departing from thespirit thereof. For instance, although brick masonry panels aredepicted, it should be readily understood that the present system couldbe utilized in conjunction with other types and styles of manufacturedstone products, generally being referred to herein as masonry productsor panels, requiring an extended curing period. Further, the number ofmasonry panels 14 in each group of panels 20-23 is not limited by theexample depicted in FIG. 1. In general, the invention is only intendedto be limited by the scope of the following claims.

1. A method of packaging and curing manufactured masonry panelscomprising: providing a first set of spaced slotted rails, each railincluding top, bottom, and opposing side walls and a plurality ofspaced, upper slots formed in the top wall; providing a first set ofmasonry panels, each of the masonry panels including a respective mainbody panel including a bottom portion, a top portion and a securingbracket extending from the top portion; inserting the respective bottomportions of the first set of masonry panels into one of the plurality ofrespective upper slots of the first set of spaced slotted rails suchthat the respective main body panels of the first set of masonry panelsare retained by said first set of slotted rails in a spaced manner;providing a second set of spaced slotted rails, each rail including top,bottom, and opposing side walls and a plurality of lower slots formed inthe bottom wall; and inserting the respective securing brackets of thefirst set of masonry panels into one of the plurality of respectivelower slots of the second set of spaced slotted rails such that therespective securing brackets are retained by the second set of slottedrails; wherein the first and second set of spaced slotted rails and themasonry panels are retained as a package.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the masonry panels are only partially cured when packaged andthe method further comprises further curing the first and second sets ofmasonry panels within the package.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein thepackage is a shipping package and the method further comprises shippingthe package.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the first andsecond sets of masonry panels includes a plurality of manufacturedfacial portions, said method further comprising retaining the first andsecond sets of masonry panels in the package such that air flow gapsextend between the manufactured facial portions of the first and secondsets of masonry panels.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprisingsupporting the package on a pallet.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising attaching a brace to the package to further secure thepackage for transport.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein each of theplurality of lower slots includes at least a first notch portion to aidin the step of inserting the respective securing brackets of the firstset of masonry panels into the plurality of lower slots.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein each masonry panel further includes a first row ofmanufactured facial portions extending from the main body panel anddefining a bottom portion of the masonry panel, and the method ofpackaging further comprises inserting the respective bottom portions ofthe first set of masonry panels into the plurality of upper slots of thefirst set of spaced slotted rails such that bottom portions of themanufactured facial portions abut the top walls of the first set ofspaced slotted rails.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein each masonrypanel further includes a second row of manufactured facial portionsextending from the main body panel and including a top wall portion, andthe method of packaging further comprises inserting the respectivesecuring brackets of the first set of masonry panels into the pluralityof lower slots of the second set of spaced slotted rails such that thetop wall portions of the second row of manufactured facial portions abutthe bottom walls of the second set of spaced slotted rails.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: providing a second set of masonrypanels, each of the second set of masonry panels including a respectivemain body panel including a bottom portion, a top portion and a securingbracket extending from the top portion; inserting the bottom portions ofthe second set of masonry panels into one of a plurality of respectiveupper slots of the second set of spaced slotted rails such that the mainbody panels of the second set of masonry panels are retained by saidsecond set of slotted rails in a spaced manner; providing a third set ofspaced slotted rails, each slotted rail including top, bottom, andopposing side walls and having a plurality of lower slots formed in thebottom wall; and inserting the respective securing brackets of thesecond set of masonry panels into one of the plurality of respectivelower slots of the third set of spaced slotted rails such that therespective securing brackets are retained by the third set of slottedrails; wherein the package if further defined by the third set of spacedslotted rails.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: providinga third set of masonry panels, each of the masonry panels including arespective main body panel including a bottom portion, a top portion anda securing bracket extending from the top portion; inserting therespective bottom portions of the third set of masonry panels into oneof a plurality of respective upper slots formed in the top wall of thethird set of spaced slotted rails such that the main body panels of thethird set of masonry panels are retained by said third set of slottedrails in a spaced manner; providing a fourth set of spaced slottedrails, each rail including top, bottom, and opposing side walls andhaving a plurality of lower slots formed in the bottom wall; andinserting the respective securing brackets of the third set of masonrypanels into one of the plurality of respective lower slots of the fourthset of spaced slotted rails such that the respective securing bracketsare retained by the fourth set of slotted rails; wherein the package iffurther defined by the fourth set of spaced slotted rails,
 12. A curingand shipping package for manufactured masonry panels comprising: a firstset of spaced slotted rails, each slotted rail including top, bottom,and opposing side walls and a plurality of upper slots formed in the topwall; a second set of spaced slotted rails, each slotted rail includingtop, bottom, and opposing side walls and a plurality of lower slotsformed in the bottom wall; and a first set of masonry panels, each ofthe masonry panels including a respective main body panel having abottom portion, a top portion, and a securing bracket extending from thetop portion, wherein each of the bottom portions is retained within arespective one of the plurality of lower slots of the second set ofspaced slotted rails and each of the securing brackets is retainedwithin a respective one of the plurality of upper slots of the first setof spaced slotted rails such that the first set of masonry panels areretained by the first and second sets of spaced slotted rails.
 13. Thepackage of claim 12, wherein the first set of masonry panels areretained in a spaced manner such that an air flow gap is defined betweenthe first set of masonry panels.
 14. The package of claim 12, whereineach of the first set of masonry panels further includes a first row ofmanufactured facial portions.
 15. The package of claim 14, wherein eachof the masonry panels further includes a second row of manufacturedfacial portions.
 16. The package of claim 12, further comprising a bracesecuring the first set of masonry panels to the first and second sets ofspaced slotted rails.
 17. The package of claim 12, wherein each of theplurality of lower slots includes a notched portion at an openingthereof, said notch portion aiding in the insertion of the securingbrackets into the respective plurality of lower slots.
 18. The packageof claim 12, further comprising: a second set of masonry panels, each ofthe second set of masonry panels including a respective main body panelhaving a bottom portion, a top portion, and a securing bracket extendingfrom the top portion, wherein the bottom portions of the second set ofmasonry panels are retained within a respective one of the plurality oflower slots of the second set of spaced slotted rails adjacent the firstset of masonry panels and the securing brackets of the second set ofmasonry panels are retained within a respective one of the plurality ofupper slots of the first set of spaced slotted rails adjacent the firstset of masonry panels such that the first and second sets of masonrypanels are retained by the first and second sets of spaced slotted railsin a spaced apart manner.
 19. The package of claim 12, furthercomprising: a third set of spaced slotted rails, each slotted railincluding top, bottom, and opposing side walls and a plurality of lowerslots formed in the bottom wall; and a second set of masonry panels,each of the masonry panels including a respective main body panel havinga bottom portion, a top portion, and a securing bracket extending fromthe top portion, wherein the respective bottom portions are retainedwithin one of a plurality of lower slots formed in the respective bottomwalls of the second set of spaced slotted rails, the respective securingbrackets are retained within one of the plurality of respective lowerslots formed in the bottom wall of the third set of spaced slottedrails, and the second set of masonry panels are retained by the secondand third sets of spaced slotted rails.
 20. The package of claim 12,wherein the main body panels of the respective first set of masonrypanels each include a back face portion and the first set of masonrypanels is retained by the first and second sets of spaced slotted railsin a back-to-back fashion such that the respective back face portionsare spaced from one another by an air flow gap.